Yes. And I couldn’t even find all the other posters that blatantly make her look like a boy compared to all the other women. If you’ve been driving around your town, you should be able to see all of the posters depicting this.

Totally agree with you Neecy and it was obviously the same situation with the show on Netflix called Orange Is The New Black. This ties in with your analogy on your post called ‘Don’t Stay Losing Part 1: Hard Truths’. WW already lost some very important ground to AW, particularly those of East Asian descent regarding WM and in some respects they lost a bit of ground to HW. So they really have to do some quality control and loss prevention in order to really ‘batten down the hatches’! LOL

BW have to understand from now that if they don’t create their own media filled with the positivity and the many NUANCES of their own images and their own stories and naturally in turn continue to give the largest amount of support to promote that media then this is ALL they’ll ever be getting from white mainstream media these days and stupid reality TV shows really don’t help the BW’s case!

In the 70s and 80s when TV and magazines were even whiter, BW had way better, more positive, womanly and ‘girly’ shiny and pretty images of themselves compared to today within the realm of print modeling but especially within the realm of runway/catwalk modeling as hard as that may be to believe. For one thing the Ebony Fashion Fair fashion shows were still carrying on and there were a handful of gay AA BM designers who were doing very well and they used black models and black models were still very much in vogue and used by YSL, Emanuel Ungaro, Givenchy, Thierry Mugler and even by Karl Lagerfeld when he was still working for Chloe. As soon as rap/hip hop started going from strength to strength after getting their bearings and BW started trying to fit in with that world of ‘the street’ in order to fit in and appear ‘more down’ and as ‘one of the gang’ it was all over. And it didn’t help that black people overall still to this day do scant amounts of the things to create their own media whether it’s on print, radio, TV or internet in order to promote the (positive) image of BW and/or they’re not promoting it enough with their financial support and by word of mouth, etc.

At this point, there isn’t anything subliminal about it. I wonder if they asked her to cut her hair this way for the film because Ester’s hair wasn’t cut that low.

I’m not interested in this franchise b/c it’s all sorts of wrong to begin with (the fact that these ww are attempting to sing with a traditional bw sound with piss poor representation).

Itsmeak, interesting your point about the ’70’s! The ’70’s was a unique era in terms of our femininity and I think Disco music and the BW who pioneered it had a strong influence. The music was fun loving, empowering, but not in a fight the power sort of way, sexy, and boy were we feminine and tastefully sexy. And the stars were undeniably black, none of this exotical mess, they were BLACK! This was also the height of BW/WM relationships. So many of top stars from that time were with WM.

Everybody was loving the BW of that time; you either wanted to be them or be with them. Gene Simmons from KISS was so obsessed with Donna Summers. I’m sure his obsession had something to do with KISS’s failed disco album (many people don’t know they made a disco album!).

I say all of that to say that short period was one of the most visible times when BW were feminine and openly desired by all sorts of men. It’s no surprise that anti-bw rap music was ushered right on in during the ’80’s and ’90’s and why undeniably BW who refuse to portray images like the one above are practically shut out from the music biz and the entertainment biz as a whole. We can’t have what happened in the ’70’s ever happening again!

I honestly believe that the most significant change in the depictation of Black women today versus a earlier time is the actual globalization ass media including social media. Unfortunately too many people are been ng “informed” about Black women including Black women themselves through globalized social media.

Black women have historically been excluded from the “lady” and “feminine” definitions. There have been exceptions of course but pretty much we have been defined out.

Segregation in many ways buffered black girls and women. For many black women they were feminine ladies within their own communities. This applied to working class and poor black women. They understood the binary be and the cloak of “white womanhood” BC many of the in the South worked in white households. Black publications also depicted glamourous black women. Generations of black females came of age very much aware of the dominate culture’s depictation of black womanhood yet they created their own world within their families an community and though imperfect it was a buffer.

I pretty much came of age in the late 1970s and early 1990s. Although I attended school with nonblacks and Had no black friends my community was a serious buffer well into the late 1980s. Florida and Thelma from Goodtimes were “feminine.” Heck Willona was working class glamorous.

I think things have. Hanged so. Beyonce has reached the heights that Dandridge could only imagine. And the more things change the more they stay the same. It is not happenance that features that are supposedly black fuller lips, hips, etc are now beautiful on non-black women. And black women frequently the obese sassy woman on predominantly female shows.

Black women were and are historically left out of the definitions of ‘lady’ and ‘feminine’ on purpose because whites and other non-blacks were and are doing the defining and for the past 20 to 25 years DBR BM who became celebs have joined within that same omission of the definitions of BW. If more black women decide to join the ranks of Shonda Rimes and Issa Rae (as opposed to the ranks of the very anti-BW and most abominable Tyler Perry) and create more positive media depictions of BW with or without the help of Hollywood, BBC, Vogue, etc. we wouldn’t have to concern ourselves with everybody else’s narrow-minded definitions or omissions of definitions.

How can black women create more positive depictations of themselves when they do not have much ownership of mass media? I ask this question to not to be difficult rather I want us to have serious exploration of the problem that takes into account its complexity. There are many people who are critical of Tyler Perry and Rhimes.

I agree that Black women should have tougher personal and political bargains in their dealings with black men.

We have to serious define our goals and not fall into the trap of being reactionary.

It seems to me that BW have to take more creative measures like you tube and side step any ideas of doing so through mainstream media. Shonda has had luck. But I think the bulk of change will come from independent BW producing and presenting content online first and then building a brand that way. The ideas will catch like wildfire.

Ironically I was eating lunch a few weeks ago in Beverly Hills and I was sitting behind a young attractive Black girl and a White guy. The girl was probably in her early 20s and was dark skinned. Initially I took interest in them because I thought they were a couple. But because I was sitting so closely behind them I could hear everything they were talking about.

The guy appeared to be some kind of talent manager and she an actress. I Could hear their conversation very clearly and ironically he was telling her that she had the kind of look that mainstream is going for now because mainstream media is moving towards more diversity. That many of his colleagues were looking for her “type” because they are in high demand because people don’t just want to see Lilly white casts anymore.

I was thinking to myself “uh I’m not seeing this at all” because the only real images I tend to see of BW in mainstream television/movies are that of the non feminine asexual type.

So I was a bit stunned by the feedback he gave her and his apparent high interest in obtaining her as a client because this girl is the total opposite of what we see. She could have easily fit in with the posters above and looked just as feminine as the other girls.

I agree that Black women must take “more creative measures like you tube and side step any ideas of doing so through mainstream media. Shonda has had luck. But I think the bulk of change will come from independent BW producing and presenting content online first and then building a brand that way. The ideas will catch like wildfire.”

Any representation of black womanhood that or black females that depicts them as whole beings and not as solely or mostly appendages to black men and whites is really liberating. I don’t have a problem with black women being depicted as whores, criminals, or “bad.” Because there are bad, criminal, whorish black women. I take issue with the lack of representation that depicts the educated, classy, nerdy, athletic, average, beautiful, sexy, sensual etc black woman. Because we are diverse, complex, and not one dimensional.

I personally refused to engage the negative representation for black womanhood in my personal life and I do not watch images that I do not like.

That’s true about the easiest thing Vinindy but eventually more and more BW will have to do the harder things especially those BW who have already decided to become writers, screenwriters, actresses, directors, producers, agents, magazine editors or owners, modeling agents, etc. because it will be up to them to create the many different forms of media that can portray BW’s images and stories with more fullness, richness and positivity or within a fuller range that can cover closer to 360 degrees as opposed to a lousy eight degrees! That is the only way to show black children, grandchildren and the wider world the stories of black women whether fictional or non-fictional who have different family backgrounds, educational backgrounds, cultural backgrounds, socio-economic class backgrounds and their various tastes, preferences and the different complexities and nuances within our personalities. The only way. Because as I said earlier for 20 to 25 years a lot of BM entertainers who went on to mainstream fame have joined in with the denigration of BW and that has helped greatly to line their own pockets nicely with the help of money from other BM, BW and everybody else.

So, some large bunch of BW out there who feel that parts of the entertainment, journalism and media world is their ‘calling’ will have to do this hard work and the rest of us in turn have to financially support their work continuously and promote it by word of mouth, the internet, etc. all the time. But no BW is obligated to financially support or promote offensive caricatures of BW and tired played-out stereotypes no matter who has created them. Certainly not! LOL

Yes! Thank goodness that this is just yet another silly, forgettable Hollywood comedy movie being churned out of ‘Typical-ville’. This will be in the bottom of the bargain bin of clearance-priced DVDs in Walmart soon enough and shoved on to
TV in some stupid time slot by the beginning of next year….Next!….

I soon as I saw the promo pic, I knew what was up. I actually saw the first movie at a relative’s house. While watching it, I noticed that in the beginning of the movie they had another BW that was feminine, but she got kicked out because she slept with a guy on the other team. I knew then that something was up. I won’t be seeing the sequel I refuse to. Its also not hard to miss the message the media is trying to send it is very blatant.

It goes a bit farther than that: Anna Kendrick was lauded for being “not striking a ‘sexy’ pose.” So the BW strikes a non-feminine pose…but it’s the WW who gets lauded for being edgy and cool: she’s the “Boss Pitch”.

She’s ONLY one who’s counted as subverting the women-must-be-sexy trope. Even though she’s showing waaaay more skin than the BW.

IMO, the BW isn’t even seen as being able to be part of the sexy group in the first place, as none of the accolades go to her.

There’s nothing wrong, in my worldview, for more tomboyish, or butch representations, but when a BW does that but isn’t even recognized as desirable then she’s being held as a foil to uplift the other women’s femininity.

Ester Dean is worth $24 million! Probably richer than all of those girls combined! There is no need for her to take on roles like this compared to other BW in hollywood who failed to build wealth outside of fighting for acting roles. Just shows that so many BW are oblivious to what’s going on and eagerly participating in the denial of their femininity.

It’s time for them to get into the driver’s seat for once I’m telling you….For BW in media it is the only way. They need to follow Shonda Rimes and Issa Rae’s lead. Now more than ever with the internet the world of media is even more their oyster. But they have to take the reins in their hands in order to do it. They have to save up well and use their own savings, try to get loans if they can or set up crowd funding but either way they have to do it themselves. Independent filmmakers from all over the world show that it can be done.

White people have been rejected in Hollywood and had doors slammed in their faces out there too. That is how Quentin Tarantino got started and what led to him becoming an indie filmmaker after approaching numerous Hollywood bigwigs during the 80s who just didn’t ‘get’ his work. If Tarantino never started doing it by himself there probably would never have been any Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction to speak of. The most satisfying thing about these modern times is that the great ‘Roman Empire’ of Hollywood is finally crumbling all around them out there after all of their offensive caricatures and ‘blackface’ that started from the very early 20th century to around the mid-20th century. Good! BBC News did say that a big Hollywood production company that won the Oscars for Best Film a couple of years ago had to file for bankruptcy within the next year, big time Hollywood studios and big time names like Warner Brothers and MGM were struggling and scrambling around for more money like nobody’s business and they wanted the state of California’s government or the federal government to bail out Hollywood’s movie industry financially. The bunch of so and so’s…Good!

Because of the good fortune through sophisticated IT technology like CGI and the use of ‘green screens’ filmmakers from all over the world don’t have to save up and scramble over to Hollywood to use their big studios and sets anymore, they can make slicker and more sophisticated movies of any kind of genre right in their own backyards that represent their own cultures and languages. This is yet another reason why present and future BW filmmakers do not have to get left behind. They can always start out making ‘shorts’ at first if they need to and as many other filmmakers have as ‘shorts’ are cheaper to make. But the internet through YouTube, etc. is a very good way to get independent media out there as many people such as Issa Rae have found out.

I thought she was a boy when I first looked at the picture. Compared to the other women she doesn’t look like a woman. Even if they kept her hair short like that they could have made it look clear that she is a woman.

I will not be seeing the movie anyway, but I will say for everybody that keeps talking about showing better pictures of BW in shows and movies it would be great if some of the people talking will put money where their mouth is and help fund some of these shows and movies. It is so easy to say it should be done but for women who truly want to make it happen that doesn’t mean getting the financing to do it is accessible.

Proverbs 25.28: “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls”.

Who are these people? The only answer is ignoring them, as in not paying to see it. I spend a lot of time in mainstream environments, and people often make insensitive comments in my presence. I just let it slide.

Why? Because I was different once upon a time. Always ready to climb on my high horses, easily offended. I wanted to educate people on their prejudices. In the end, I got a reputation for being critical. Or people would just say silly things in front of me to get me to react. Me as a Pavlov dog & cheap entertainment for them

A few years later, I just learnt to voice my discontent by ignoring the subject. Mental shield on -Magneto style ;).

When people try to insult me, I pretend I havent noticed. It is sad for this black actress who has taken the role.

If we criticise them, we are jealous (because we are ugly) or oversensitive (we see racism everywhere). If we stay silent, we may think we are condoning it. but we are not. We are too busy to fall to their levels. Life is complicated, let’s not give nobodies too much importance.

Once I had an in law criticise kinky hair in my presence. I just smiled & pretended I hadn’t heard. It was so unexpected (bw are reputed to be volatile) that my MIL (who is equally prejudiced) ended up being the one apologising for the remark. She expected me to make a scene and to make a fool of myself. Once, I took the high road, her family member was left looking mean.

To quote Taylor Swift, I shook it off. And my husband loves me because I get on so well (wink) with his family.

They criticise the Arabic daughter in law for her “typical” features? I do not bat an eyelid.

Someone mentions a trip to South Africa (spent the summer with a Boer family who wasn’t treating their Black servants well), I compliment the landscapes (so different from where I come from!!! How lovely!). Race relations in SA? Not my role to lecture them (if they have enjoyed their Boer’s friend hospitality without being prejudiced, I will not be Winnied Mandela).

They laud a tv show whichI do not watch because of its awful depiction of BW? I smile, listen as if I were interested and say: “I had never heard of this show. Looks like I should give it a try”.

Not that I am immune to racism, but the dig can be so subtle that I might not get it 😉

I consider myself a Progressive Black woman that is interested in helping to bring about change and a new consciousness to Black women globally. One that is positive and progressive and empowers Black women to live well and thrive successfully under some of the most anti-Black woman pressures in society today.